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THOMAS AQUINAS COLLEGE E-LETTER
SEPTEMBER 2016
 
 
 
 
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CAMPUS LIFE
MULTIMEDIA
 
     
Freshman-Senior Beach Day Slideshow:
Senior-Freshman Beach Day 
 
     
Slideshow: Senior-Freshman Dance Slideshow:
Senior-Freshman Dance
 
     
Dr. Michael Augros Lecture:
“Why Philosophers Disagree”
 
     
Rosary procession Slideshow:
Nativity of Mary
Rosary Procession
 
     
Tutors and students play Trivial Pursuit Slideshow:
Students v. Faculty
Trivial Pursuit
 
     
Students dancing Slideshow:
Junior-Freshman Welcoming Dance
 
     
Students standing on rock Slideshow:
Sunday Hike in the Sespe Wilderness
 
     
Orientation Barbeque Slideshow: Orientation Barbeque  
     
Tug of war Slideshow:
Open-Mic
Ice-Breakers
 
     
Construction on St. Cecilia Hall Slideshow:
St. Cecilia Hall Progress Update
 
     
Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel Video:
Aerial Views of Campus
 
     
St. Teresa of Calcultta video New Video!
St. Teresa’s 1982 Address
 
     
Hollywood Bowl New Video!
St. Teresa’s 1982 Press Conference
 
     
The Most Rev. Robert Barron Bishop Barron’s Convocation Day Homily  
     
Dr. McLean and Bishop Barron Dr. McLean’s Introduction of Bishop Barron  
     
The Most Rev. Robert Barron Bishop Barron’s Matriculation Remarks  
     
Dr. Michael F. McLean Dr. McLean’s Matriculation Address  
     
All-College Picnic Slideshow:
The 2016 All-College Picnic
 
     
Ice-cream social Slideshow:
Friday Night 
Ice Cream Social
 
     
 
     
  UPCOMING EVENTS  
   
Career Talk
Greg Wood, College Counselor
for students interested in mental health, psychology & counseling
September 17
 
   
Lecture
Dr. John Finley
Kenrick-Glennon Seminary
September 23
 
   
Fall All-College Seminar
October 7
 
   
Alumni & Parent Day
October 8
 
   
Columbus Day
October 10
 
   
Anniversary of the Death of Founding President Ronald P. McArthur
October 17
 
   
Don Rags
Evening classes only
October 18-20
 
   
Lecture
Dr. Stephen F. Shivone
Belmont Abbey College
October 21
 
   
Feast of All Saints
November 1
 
   
Anniversary of the Death of College Founder Marcus R. Berquist
November 2
 
   
Lecture
Dr. Marie I. George (’79)
St. John's University
November 4
 
   
Concert
The Thomas Aquinas College Choir
November 18
 
   
Thanksgiving
November 24
 
   
Thanksgiving Recess
November 24-27
 
   
Feast of the Immaculate Conception
December 8
 
   
First Semester Examinations
December 12-16
 
   
Christmas Vacation
December 17 - January 8
 
   
Christmas Eve
Offices open half day
December 24
 
   
Christmas
December 25
 
   
New Year’s Eve
Offices open half day
December 31
 
   
 IMEMORIAM  
   
July 31
Benefactor

Phyllis Schlafly
September 5
Grandmother of Sr. Maria Battista of the Lamb of God (Maria Forshaw ’07)
 
 
 
CONVOCATION 2016
Bishop Robert Barron  Welcomes
Members of the Class of 2020


On August 22, Thomas Aquinas College’s newly installed regional bishop, the Most Rev. Robert Barron, presided over the start of the 2016-17 academic year at Convocation 2016. Joined by President Michael F. McLean and members of the faculty, His Excellency welcomed the 102 new students, hailing from 5 countries and 30 states,  who matriculated as freshmen — the Class of 2020.
 
The morning began with a Mass of the Holy Spirit in Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel, at which Bishop Barron, Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ Santa Barbara pastoral region, served as the principal celebrant and homilist. Following the Mass, students, faculty, and staff convened in St. Joseph Commons for the Matriculation Ceremony. There the College also welcomed its newest tutors: Blaise Blain, Vincent DeMeo, Joseph Haggarty, and Drew Rosato. With Fr. Paul leading them, the four educators made the Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity, as do all new Catholic members of the College’s teaching faculty. Dr. McLean then formally welcomed the freshmen in his Matriculation Address.
 
After Dr. McLean’s introduction, Bishop Barron delivered his remarks to the members of the Class of 2020. Dr. McLean then proclaimed the start of the College’s 46th academic year and, as in years past, students responded with loud applause. Members of the faculty and Board of Governors then processed out of the Commons as all sang “Immaculate Mary” in joyful anticipation of the new year, now at hand.

Full story
 
 

The Most Rev. Robert Barron

Convocation 2016

President McLean

The Most Rev. Robert Barron
 
 
 
ST. TERESA OF CALCUTTA
College Celebrates Canonization of its 1982 Commencement Speaker

Members of the Thomas Aquinas College community celebrated Pope Francis’ canonization of St. Teresa of Calcutta on September 4, recalling fondly her visit to campus nearly 35 years ago.
 
Having received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, Mother Teresa came to the United States in 1982 to give three Commencement Addresses — at Harvard, Georgetown, and Thomas Aquinas College. “It was a singular privilege to have among us this ‘Saint of the Gutters,’” recalled President Michael F. McLean. “The warmth of her smile touched the hearts of all who encountered her.”
 
On the day of St. Teresa’s canonization, Head Chaplain Rev. Paul Raftery, O.P., blessed a bronze bust of the new saint. Additionally, the College presented to all of its students and staff Miraculous Medals that were blessed and placed on her tomb. Later that afternoon in St. Joseph Commons, the College presented a video of St. Teresa’s 1982 Commencement Address, as well as a video of her remarks at the 1994 National Prayer Breakfast.

“We rejoice at the canonization of St. Teresa of Calcutta,” said Dr. McLean. “We pray that the Church’s newest saint will intercede for the College and its many friends in all their needs.”

Full story 
 
 
 
St. Teresa of Calcutta
St. Teresa of Calcutta

Students celebrate canonization
Students celebrate canonization
 
COLLEGE GUIDES
Top Marks from U.S. News, Princeton Review, Washington Monthly

“The most dramatic jump in the National Liberal Arts Colleges rankings,” write the editors of U.S. News & World Report, “came from California’s Thomas Aquinas College, which rose 29 spots from a tie at No. 82 to a tie at No. 53” — the top third of the top tier. The newly released 2017 edition of the magazine’s “Best Colleges” guide also lists the College at No. 24 among the Top 40 on its “Great Schools, Great Prices” list and No. 11 among the top 25 national liberal arts colleges for “Least Debt” at graduation. Additionally, the College rates first in the country for the highest proportion of classes under 20 students (100 percent) and the lowest proportion of classes with more than 50 students (0 percent). 

• Thomas Aquinas College provides one of the best undergraduate educations in the country, according to The Princeton Review. The education services company features the College in the 2017 edition of its annual guide, The Best 381 Colleges. Only about 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges are profiled in the publication, The Princeton Review’s flagship college guide. Thomas Aquinas College is one of only three Catholic schools recommended by the Cardinal Newman Society to make The Princeton Review’s “Best Colleges” list.

• Thomas Aquinas College also earned a spot among the nation’s “Best Colleges and Universities,” according to Washington Monthly. The magazine, which rates schools “based on what they are doing for the country,” has named just 239 institutions (out of a possible 1,863) to its newly published 2016 list. Among those, Thomas Aquinas College ranks in the top 100, at No. 56, and No. 25 on the magazine’s list of schools that offer the “Best Bang for the Buck” in the Western United States.
 
 

Br. Patrick Rooney (’15)

Princeton Review Best 381 Colleges

Ryan Truss (’16)
 

VOCATIONS ABOUND!
Alumni Serve Church and Society as Priests and Religious

The alumni of Thomas Aquinas College feature prominently in the cover story for the National Catholic Register’s annual college guide, Catholic Colleges Produce Abundant Vocations. “Since TAC’s founding in 1971,” reports author Jim Graves “about 11% of the student body ... have pursued vocations to the priesthood or religious life; today, TAC has 65 ordained alumni and 45 religious sisters and brothers who are alumni.” This blessed trend, the story quotes Director of College Relations Anne S. Forsyth as explaining, is “the natural fruit” of a faithful Catholic education. “Our whole way of life at the college,” Mrs. Forsyth continues, “encourages students to think about their vocations.”

The long-term effects of this approach can already be seen in the way that alumni priests and religious are serving the Church and society. Just this month in San Francisco, two more graduates entered the novitiate for the Dominican Order’s Western Province, and a third made his first vows. In all there are eight alumni among the Western Province Dominicans.

Meanwhile, some 6,000 miles away, three more Thomas Aquinas College graduates are serving bravely at the Benedictine Monastero San Benedetto in Norcia, Italy. The recent earthquake that struck central Italy damaged the monks’ living quarters but not — beer aficionados will be glad to hear — their highly acclaimed brewery, of which an alumnus, Br. Augustine (Philip Wilmeth ’13), is the brewmaster. Most of the monks had to leave the monastery in the days immediately following the initial quake, but they have since returned, and are generously serving the material and spiritual needs of the people in the surrounding areas.

Thanks be to God for our alumni priests and religious! Please keep them in your prayers.

 

Madeleine Lessard (’16)

Carl Anderson, supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus, and Patrick Mason (’03), state deputy of the Knight’s New Mexico state council
Graduates among the Western Dominican novices

Patrick Cross (’14), self portrait
Alumni Benedictine monks in Norcia
 


“LOWEST STUDENT DEBT 
Report: College’s Graduates Have Among the Lowest Debt Loads in the U.S.

LendEDU, an online marketplace for student loans and loan refinancing, has compiled a list of the four-year colleges and universities with the lowest student-debt loads in the United States. Thomas Aquinas College ranks near the top of that list, number 42 out of some 1,300 schools, and number 25 among private institutions.

Using the newest licensed Peterson’s financial aid data, LendEDU analyzed the current student-debt levels of those who graduated from college in 2015. According to these findings, the average student debt per borrower among the College’s 2015 graduates was, as of this month, $16,901 — nearly half of the national average of $31,710 for graduates of private colleges and universities, and also significantly below the national average of $26,872 for graduates of public institutions.

“Thomas Aquinas College is giving students a very low amount of student debt at graduation,” says Alex Coleman, director of business development at LendEDU. The College, as well as the other schools at the top of LendEDU’s list, “are doing an excellent job helping students avoid student debt.”

Full story 

 

College Match Up
 
 
 
 
 
  Thomas Aquinas College